The National Pig Association (NPA) has once more urged the UK Government to ensure checks for illegal meat imports are properly funded, amidst high figures of criminal activity.
Between 6-7 December alone, more than 6 tonnes of illegal meat was discovered by Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) during a 14-hour period. The seizure included pork from areas in Romania that have been affected by African swine fever.
The reiteration for funding follows the withdrawal of government funding earlier this year. At the time, Dover District Council (DDC) – which is responsible for checking food for diseases as it enters the UK – warned it could be at risk of bankruptcy due to the £3m funding deficit.
Despite stretched resources, the NPA reports that DPHA has seized as much as 57 tonnes of illegal meat since the introduce of the new ASF controls in September 2022.
Over the past 12 months that figure has risen to more than 147 tonnes. The NPA believes this is ‘only the tip of the iceberg’ however, given that DPHA staff have only provided 20% operational coverage ay the Port of Dover as a result to cost pressures.
The association has listed several examples of the meat seized, including pork from an ASF-affected area in Romania displaying a mark indicating it is for the Romanian market only and not permitted for export. This was exported without temperature control, with no paperwork, CHED (Common Health Entry Document) or health certificate.
Another example included unlabelled ‘rest of the world’ poultry from an unknown country, transported in cardboard boxes without temperature control, and with no ID mark, paperwork, CHED or health certificate.
As ASF has spread across Europe in recent years, Romania has been the worst-affected country, with 537 outbreaks recorded in domestic pigs in 2023. As cases have persisted into 2024, the country has been under restriction and pork exports prohibited from infected areas.
ASF has caused problems in other parts of Europe this year including areas where it had not previously been present, including Italy and western Germany.
NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson has labelled the incident as ‘deeply concerning’.
“ASF poses a huge threat to our domestic pig sector and the fact that so much illegal product, much of it from parts of Europe with serious ASF problems, is a massive concern,” she said.
“It is not just pork. DPHA is finding illegal products from all farm species, which not only threatens the health of our national livestock, but also poses a very real human health risk, as product in such vast quantities will most likely be sold into the food service sector.”
She extended her thanks to the DPHA for its work in what she described as ‘extremely tough conditions’, but noted illegal exports would far outweigh the authority’s capabilities.
“…We know so much more is getting through our ports than is being intercepted, and we urge the government to rapidly come up with the funding they need before it is too late. The full cost of a notifiable disease outbreak, especially Foot and Mouth Disease for example, will far outweigh this modest additional funding many, many times over.”
NPA senior adviser Tom Haynes has also warned that the government’s new Border Target Operating Model, which includes an automatic clearance mechanism designed to prevent traffic build-up at Sevington’s inland port border control port, opens up opportunities for unscrupulous actors.
“We are extremely concerned that vulnerabilities in the BTOM are now being exploited by criminal importers, with increasing quantities of illegal meat now entering the UK through the commercial route, in addition to the personal imports route,” he said.
The news comes as multiple arrests have been made over suspected illegal meat in Wales and London, while UK sales of fresh meat see rise.
